Scene #8188: Ambush of a Brat (ver Petra)

Owner	Pose
Petra Soroka	It must've had a name at some point, this castle built into the slope of the mountain. There probably used to be a road leading up to it, and you can imagine it overlooking a bustling town, or a strategic chokepoint. Now, though, two of its towers are crumbled, open to the chilly winter air, and those that remain are weathered enough to blunt the formerly imperious shapes. Coniferous trees crowd at its walls and vines drooping with purple fruit grasp at the stones, clamoring for their inevitable reclamation of the comparatively barren earth within. The courtyard, big enough to snugly fit two of the bulky Ekanamsha side by side, is clear of vegetation taller than knee-height, and a scorched crater matched by sooty smears on the inner wall is the only sign of recent human activity. From the air, it's easy to see why this location caught Petra's eye. Flying west from the nearest warpgate for nearly an hour, the earth is carpeted in an unbroken sea of green, making the decrepit castle stand out. From the ground, however, the stonework is camouflaged, sinking into the surrounding vegetation, a thirty minute walk through the pines and brush from the nearest road. Petra, along with Remee, arrives early and by air, the Ekanamsha gleaming in the cold sun as it flies over the treetops. Despite all the power pouring into its infamously loud engines, the Kana's roar is swallowed up by the forest, dulled by the quiet vastness.
Petra Soroka	Petra's been awake since early in the morning, but not because of nerves, exactly. She's kept busy, showering and performing an extensive hair care routine, hogging the bathroom for so much of the morning that any woman other than Remee would've gotten upset. With her bomber jacket finally returned from worlds away after Remee insisted it go to her preferred drycleaners, Petra is back in her traditional outfit, overalls, boots, and jacket all returned to mint condition. She put on light makeup, ate a small breakfast of fruits, crackers, and cheese, did stretches, packed her bags. She thoroughly cleaned her cockpit too, as much as the cluttered space can be cleaned, attempting to scrub the lingering memory of "Girl, you live like this?" from every surface. Throughout it all, Petra gives off an impression of loneliness. As if she's saying goodbye to something, leaving something behind. That melancholy air evaporates over the duration of the flight, exposing the undercurrent of anxiety, Petra's chatter slowly fading to silence. She continually fidgets in the pilot's seat, eyes locked on the view screens, carefully not looking at Remee. Once it comes into view, she gestures vaguely at the castle below, a freshly painted nail rapping on the screen. "I know it looks like a dump, but it's really not that bad. It's pretty, out here." Petra seems to mostly be talking out loud to herself, and it's a non-sequitur if she hasn't been here before. The Kana slows to a stop over the courtyard, hovering in the air. "...Thanks for being here, Remee. I'm really glad to count you as a friend." Again, that lonely tone coming through in her voice. She looks down at the yard with a furrowed brow, then turns to Remee with an awkward look. "I'll probably have to park it up here, huh? Otherwise it'll take up half the fighting space." She taps a button, and a hatch on the belly of the Kana hisses open, a ladder unraveling itself automatically to connect with the ground. After climbing down, she rolls her shoulders, looking resentfully at the ladder. She scans the inner yard of the castle, and her eyes narrow upon seeing a pile of black trash bags tucked away in one corner, but she shrugs and leans back against a wall, bomber jacket exaggerating the motion. Her hands reach into either side pocket in her jacket, retrieving her revolver with one hand and a pack of cigarettes with the other, the latter of which she flips open and then returns to her pocket, spinning the unlit cigarette idly between her fingers.
John Doe	It's hard to know how long John's actually been there. Because the moment John speaks, you're aware he's actually there. Not a moment before, or after...but the moment he speaks he's there. Standing in the courtyard, he holds a strange belt in his hand. Two other things seem to be under his coat. "I don't think so, I rather like the look of old places like this. Just because it's abandoned doesn't mean it's ugly. It's got its own charms...but.." "We're not here to talk about that. We're here about something that's come due. My acting like an ass to you...so accept it or not, I apologize. I won't disrespect you anymore by trying to avoid this. But...I will warn you that I'm going to be quite a bit stronger than before. Not that I was holding back before, but rather I found something." "Something other than what I was doing before...to claim my place in this world. Anyway...enough jawin'. Let's reveal to the world the new me." John cracks his neck, arms reaching out into something and pulling out a strange belt. It's silver with a black holder for something on the front of it, and it snaps onto him in the back. Odd that it doesn't connect to his pants or anything. A dark, best described as Rancid Poop voice calls out. Gachon! The second thing that he pulls out is a purple 'Gameboy Advanced' looking device. It has a red 'A' button and a purple 'B' button, lighter covered than the rest of the purple of the device. On the top, it has a diagonal slot on it. GASHAT! BUGGLE UP! The third and final thing he draws out is a game cartridge with a robot girl with giant fists on it. He inserts it into the top, however oddly that the picture is facing the wrong way, towards him instead of away from him. "Rogue Level Four. Henshin." Hand in Hand! Hand to Hand GENOCIDE! Let's Go Uchinuku Fighting! What follows is a transformation sequence. A Kamen Rider suit appears around John, transforming him into a form similar to Ex-aid. What's different is that his color scheme is orange and white. Orange is the main color and white is the accessory color. On his hands are two gauntlets, that seem to be able to fold in and out. A field around him starts to grow out, chains swirling around him. Chains reaching out to slow anything and everything around him down. It's not just a physical binding, but a metaphysical one too. "Oh but we're not done yet. MAN IN THE IRON MASK, COME FORTH!" The now transformed John calls out and behind him Man in the Iron mask forms. Chains, fluorescent masks, and all. His body glows in a dangerous light as he stands there staring at Petra. "Honestly, this is why I wanted to give you an out...see I can't hold back." "I give it my all, and recently a friend of mine helped me out...I need power and strength to get what I want. It was a mistake to try and be anyone else but me...but I will borrow from others to take back what was stolen from me...and that goes for anyone who wants to stand there. Sure, it's my fault, and I'm gonna be the first to admit that, but I'm not going to be a rug either." "So...you still wanted to dance despite everything...so Petra Soroka..." He starts walking towards her, "LETS DANCE!" he says as the field around him grows. Chains reaching out to slow anything and everything around him down. It's not just a physical binding, but a metaphysical one too.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	They're already sitting in that omnipresent folding chair atop one of the castle's towers. Obviously. Did anyone even see DRYCLEAN get here? The slow, quiet waves of static that begin cascading through the devices of all who approach the site seem to hold some sort of anticipation; peaks and highs crashing upon a shoreline of tension. Hands drift over coat, chair, antennae. An impression of anxiety would be given, if any of the rest of their body language matched; and yet it's the same slouched sit as ever. They give some sort of small salute to the incoming mech. First team. And then to the man currently undergoing a gaudy transformation sequence. Second team. As the transformation begins, the static shifts, structuring, harmonizing, evoking almost a background tune of its own. They adjust their antennae stylistic output.
Kukuru	It takes a while for Kukuru to actually show up to the fight venue? Why? She had thought the castle being announced as the place, in a complete reversal of what had been told before, was some kind of fourth dimensional chess being played despite her brain barely being able to parse checkers at best. Therefore, the REAL fight location had to be the quarry, and she'd be ready well ahead of schedule! It's not until visiting her fourth quarry that it finally occurs to Kukuru that no actual quarry had been identified as their (fake) venue, and maybe the real fakeout place is the castle with actual coordinates. Thus, she arrives roughly around everyone else starts showing up and squaring up, with Petra heading into the inner yard after disembarking the Kana, and John donning some kind of funky orange and white armor alongside his Persona. Something about this still seems a little off to her, but she's not about to question any of it. Instead, she raises her hand in a light wave to the pair, then takes a seat on one of those garbage bags before starting to rummage through her pockets for bandages, sports drinks, and... No food? No food yet.
Remee Halcyon	Remee riding along with Petra is entirely out of convenience and not as part of morbid curiosity to see how she's living* in that mech, or as part of a plan to try to get the interior overhauled later. Just mere convenience, no ulterior motives. "Just keep in mind that this is not a duel," says Remee, who's opted to stay in wolf form for the ride over. "I mean it. I tried to make it a duel and John balked. He hasn't agreed to any rules or safeguards here. So this is just... some premeditated fight, and I don't want you treating it like a duel." This isn't the first time she's said something along these lines to Petra, but she feels the need to reiterate it one more time. "So if you want to thank me... take it seriously. Also don't die. I'm not going to forgive you if you die." Petra opens the hatch and descends. Remee, for the moment, stays in the mech... and goes to grab her gear bag. The one with her sniper rifle hidden at the bottom of it, behind the false lining. "Sorry, Petra," says Remee quietly to herself as she gets back into a form that has hands. "I trust John about as far as you can throw him, and... don't trust your judgement much either." With that, she stows the sniper rifle somewhere in the mech that's within arms reach but out of sight, and goes to sit on the edge of the hatch of the hovering mech, using it as a perch to observe the fight from for now.
Charlotte Newman	Atop one of the castle's remaining towers, reality glitches out. A tear rips and separates, surrounded by blocky, glitchy artifacts in cyan and purple hues. An ordinary, fashionably-dressed blonde drops out onto the stonework. Charlotte lands in a crouch, immediately rising to her feet and trotting to the battlements to peer down into the courtyard. Equipped with her purse, a familiar sticker-covered baseball bat dangles from the strap. Concern is all over her face, though it's not clear (or perhaps she doesn't even know) who she's concerned about.
Sarracenia	Fashionably late, another airship comes flying in. A wooden airship built in the style of old Spanish galleons. It is fairly large at 100 feet long, and flies with propellers on its masts instead of sails. A section of the underside opens and large pieces of wood are lowered down in a pattern that eventually leaves a proper spectator's booth on the wall of the castle. A few piranha plant people are also lowered down, setting glass into place in the large windows before Sarracenia is lowered down by a rope ladder. The princess looks down toward the soon-to-be combatants before slipping into the spectator's booth. There's already a comfy chair in there, so she takes a seat and pulls out a bottled sparkling lemonade and sips at it before pulling out popcorn as well. She sips and munches, now ready to watch!
Hibiki Tachibana	Could Hibiki have perhaps gotten an air ride with Petra and Remee, if she asked? Maybe. Did she? Of course not. From the Warpgate, it looks like she walked all the way here, over the wide green fields and towards the vegetation-shrouded, decrepit castle. She might not be early, but she's certainly not all that late, and she keeps up a brisk jogging pace despite any exhaustion up into the structure properly. Only she knows the secrets of her travel methods - though whatever they are, the journey here has given her some important time to think. About John, and the rollercoaster that's led to this point...and about Petra, and how she feels about this. Maybe that's part of why she didn't want to even attempt coming along with her. It's best that Remee is the one supporting her like that, this time. Is she going to be okay? ...There's no way of knowing until it happens. She just knows she has to be here to see what does. For the both of them...and a little bit for herself. The sight of the Kana hovering over the courtyard tells her exactly where she needs to go, and walls, crumbling or not, have never stopped her before. She's going to end up ascending some stairs and coming out on one of the walls surrounding the yard, giving a pretty good overlook of things. Though as she does so, she can hear... "Is that one of those Gamer Driv--no, that's...!?" Suddenly, Hibiki is moving a whole lot faster towards the ramparts, eyes wide as she can finally get a look at the fighters preparing to go at it down there. She's concerned alright, but for entirely different reasons than some of the other spectators today. "Eeeeeeehhhhhhh--!?" That Gashat, and that appearance...!
AME	Not too hard to find the location in question, if you know who to listen to, and how to listen for them- ambiguous spaceflight situation apparently resolved, AME arrives. Probably following that unmistakable radio signature, having not actually been told the precise location of the fight. She waves excitedly to the rest of the growing audience, both arms notably covered in thick white gloves; long ones, up to the elbow on one arm, and much closer to the shoulder on the other.
Petra Soroka	"...Not a duel. Yeah." Petra laughs, with a small note of worry, "Though he's getting under my skin bad enough that thinking of it as a duel might be for his sake, not mine." Petra rolls her eyes and groans in frustration at John's showiness. She drops the unlit cigarette, grinding it under her heel, and spits in his direction. "I don't accept your apology. And I don't accept your self-victimization, or your justifications, and I don't accept your psychotic macho posturing, either." She narrows her eyes at him. "And why do you look like Bikki? Realize she's better than you after all, and decide to mimic her?" Petra sneers at him, drawing her revolver and walking into the middle of the courtyard. "That's seriously creepy, though. Dressing up in a girl's clothes after fighting her, that's really low. You can't have my bomber jacket after this, just so you know." Petra does genuinely look unsettled at the conclusion of John's speech, glancing towards the arriving Hibiki for reassurance. She looks afraid, definitely, but it's the particular kind of fear that comes from revulsion, like she's reacting to a groper in a bar. "Don't--don't pretend this is a dance, or any sort of necessary obstacle for you. Don't posture yourself like you're getting anything out of this, other than whatever sick pleasure you get out of being a bully." She takes a step back, and twists her foot into the ground, raising her gun in anticipation. "Let's get this over with. You started this whole mess, so start this. I won't be responsible for the first swing."
John Doe	John shrugs his shoulders and sighs. "Alright, fair enough. That's how you wanna do this, and that's how we'll do this. Just remember, I did give you the option to opt-out. It just seems like you want a reason to hate me...but I wonder /why/? Like, sure, I was a jerk and all. I get that. I went beyond what I should have...and I get that too..." "But you didn't just reject my attempts at an apology, you slapped my hand with a gun repeatedly...sigh.." he says, a bit frustrated, but this isn't the reason why. Something about a different person speaking to him was ticking him off. "Like Biki? Didn't realize a Kamen Rider looked like Hibiki, whatever. If I steal your jacket it's because I like it, not because I do that." "Then again, I am a bit of a phantom thief..." he says and shakes his head. "Oh really? Giving me the first blow huh..? After I just let you have it...alright well. Your hospital bed." He says this and zips right in front of her. Gauntlets deploying as he swings towards her head, aiming to just try and lay her out in a single punch. Though it'll likely not do what he intends, he's definitely feeling out how much strength he has now.
Remee Halcyon	PHONE: DRYCLEAN-SIGINT says, "See you've shown up after all, assurance of some sort, ha ha." PHONE: DRYCLEAN-SIGINT says, "Asked the pilot herself but she wasn't up to respondin', but how are you seein' this playin' out? Question ain't rhetorical." PHONE: Phoning DRYCLEAN-SIGINT, Remee Halcyon says, "I haven't thought through the possibilities too much, but I have my rifle here next to me and I know how long it takes me to grab, aim, and fire it down to a tenth of a second. That's good enough for me." PHONE: DRYCLEAN-SIGINT says, "Fascinatin', ha ha. Referee, then." PHONE: Phoning DRYCLEAN-SIGINT, Remee Halcyon says, "Referee implies that there's any rules. Or that I'm unbiased. If I think Petra's cheating, I'm just going to cheer her on harder, for example." PHONE: DRYCLEAN-SIGINT says, "Well, honesty's a hell of a policy. I reckon you ain't gonna end up idle anyhow, ha ha." "... It'd be nice if I did stay idle here..." says Remee, to herself, after taking her thumb off the transmit button. "That'd mean everything's gone well." EARLIER [3] Liza Grier says, "Remee. If you're really going to stand around and watch, you're going to have to take a kind of responsibility you might not like." [3] Liza Grier says, "However fast you think you can react; you won't. You can't wait to see if he's going to cross the line. Shit that can't be taken back can happen in a quarter of a second." [3] Liza Grier says, "If you're watching, your job is to trust your own judgement. Your job is to leap in the instant you smell something about to go too far six seconds from now. And when you do, you put your teeth in his throat. Are you ready for that?" [3] Liza Grier says, "And if he brings someone to watch him, you scrub it immediately. They're not there to make sure the stalked girl plays fair. They're there to get in the way when you try to pull her out. Rule fucking one of back lot meetings." NOW "... Kukuru's here, but - I think that's just Kukuru showing up, not that she's here to get in the way like that... I think..." Just in case, she makes sure she has a clean line of sight to Kukuru's spot. While she's checking on that, she misses the start of the fight, which starts with - "Oh, come on Petra, don't let him have the first swing... I thought you were taking this seriously, you promised..." She doesn't say that loud enough to be heard on the ground, but some part of her kind of wants to yell it down at her.
Kukuru	It looks like everyone watching the fight is safely further away and higher up from the inner yard than where Kukuru's sitting. Thus, she's already hit with her first dilemma: Continue watching the fight here where she won't need to get up from that super comfy 'bean bag' that definitely isn't a garbage bag, or join the others where she'll be able to hand out refreshments? An opportunity to feed and quench others makes it a non-choice, especially when Kukuru actually opts to use her brain. Perhaps to Remee's relief, she does in fact join the group further up! That means Remee, Hibiki, DRYCLEAN, Charlotte, Sarracenia, and Ame (and any latecomers) all get the power of SNACKS and (not sports) DRINKS! For once, the food isn't fried. It's all grilled or stir-fried! Some of the meat is a little closer to rare than well done, but it's (probably) safe to eat. It's seasoned quite well, too! Despite being able to provide food, though, Kukuru still looks worried. "Do you think they'll be okay?" She lets that question hang for a bit, then finally clarifies. "Emotionally. They could kill each other and they'll be okay once I get down there, but..." She trails off, unable to really put her thoughts into further words at the moment.
Petra Soroka	Petra flinches, before John even moves. Not in anticipation of his attack, but the momentary lapse of her effort in restraining the prey-like instinct telling her to run from this creep. "You fucking--you would steal my jacket?! Pull it off my body if you win? You are horrid, I won't let you get any satisfaction from this fight!" Petra's rabbit-like flight instinct serves her well, and she's ready for John's first blow. Bouncing on her toes, she dashes to the side, dodging his strike entirely, and pulls up her gun and fires--behind him, still, towards the ground, launching herself into the air. She soars upwards, rotating to face away from where John stays on the ground, and grabs onto one of the hanging legs of the Kana. Petra looks through the bottom hatch of the mech and smiles at Remee, clenched teeth behind her lips betraying rage, practically bloodthirst. She blows on the muzzle of her revolver, then flips backwards, firing twice to accelerate her meteoric fall towards John. Moments before impacting him with one of her now-familiar gunpowder-augmented elbow drops, Petra spins and aims the gun at his head. "I am taking this seriously." The bassy boom of her revolver rings out twice more, emptying its cylinder, and the recoil launches her back up into the air, landing lightly on an inner wall.
Stanley Padgett	There's a pop of energy next to Charlotte, and Stanley slips into existance, as the Velvet Room drops him off as well. The young man has his finely polished new sword at the ready, and is glaring down at the contingent of people who all turned up. Just like last time. "..." He sighs at Charlotte. "...I don't care who's backing who, if stuff goes sidways I AM going down there."
Remee Halcyon	OH HEY THERE'S STANLEY SHOWING UP ALL OF A SUDDEN AND HE'S TALKING ABOUT GOING DOWN THERE THIS IS JUST LIKE LIZA WAS TALKING ABOUT Remee (who, to make things clear in case it'll matter, is up in Petra's hovering mech and not with the others at the castle) scowls across the expanse at him. "Damn it..." How much of a problem would it be if she had to put a bullet in Stanley? Maybe she could just wing his leg to slow him down or stop him enough... ... Actually, thinking it through, putting a bullet in Stanley wouldn't cause that much trouble, relatively. Good to know? Still. Remee goes to yell at him on the radio a bit.
Charlotte Newman	Stanley's arrival gets a brief glance from Charlotte before she returns her attention to the courtyard's action, "Mm. I really don't know who to back. I've been trying so hard to stay neutral in this. Admittedly I failed here and there." Straightening her posture, she folds her arms, "I don't know if you'll listen but I'd really advise against going down there. Things are crazy tense." She gestures, "Kukuru is here, so John's safe. Most of the people gathered here are concerned Petra is in danger if she loses." She accepts just water from Kukuru's snack-tour, resting her other on her comrade's shoulder not quite firmly enough to hold him back.
Hibiki Tachibana	'There is nothing to talk about. You have something that belongs to me, and I'm going to take it.' Those extremely grating words from a certain other Kamen Rider are the first things that jump back to Hibiki's mind - if Petra was expecting any reassurance from glancing her way, there's definitely not any. She looks to be some mix of confused, shocked, angry, and probably a half dozen other things right at the moment. 'Eh? Can't say. Friend of mine made me promise.' 'Oh but he DID want me to say hello.' 'Please look forward to the full release.' "Genm...!" Kukuru will find that, for once(?), Hibiki doesn't seem to have much of an appetite, and some of the looser pieces of stone making up the rampart sides is crumbling away a bit underneath the hands clutching onto it. Apparently, this is something of a sore spot. And though she doesn't say it out loud, the only reason she's not going down there herself right this instant is because she already said she wouldn't. Though it looks like she's trying hard not to do it anyway. "What the hell is going on...? Does he even know what he's using, or is he screwing with me on purpose? He sounds like he's screwing with me on purpose." Beyond muttering to herself, she goes noticeably quiet at Kukuru's question, and Stanley's arrival. "...If they'll be okay..." She did just tell Petra to kick his ass before she even realized she did. She's not entirely regretting it right now, either.
John Doe	John wasn't ready for a lot of things, including Petra being able to bend reality in such a way that the bullet soars down with more velocity than it should. He's dealt with guns before, and he knows this one can't fire that fast...but when it /does/... When several bullets hit him, in succession faster than he perceived them...and thusly defend against. If it wasn't for the suit he'd be pretty messed up...but even then he's hurting. Before John even knows what's happening he's rolling across the ground. He comes to a three-point stance and looks up. Well, that was rough. He can feel his internals scream at him. He sighs and stands up. Alright. Focus John... His strength builds up as he LEAPS for Petra, aiming to close the distance once more and put them both in close hand to hand. She can still fire that weapon, but it shouldn't be able to build up momentum. It can't be the gun doing it, so he's assuming it's something she's doing. He swings down, but then the Man in the Iron Mask appears, aiming to be where she would move...and chains come down towards her. They aim to try and smash her back to the ground. More than that, they try to zone her so she can't get back and away from him. Chains starting to build up more and more around them.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	Swells with the action, dips with movement, the subtle melody continues. It almost brings to mind the muffled roar of a crowd, cheers in time with every impact. There's not much of a gaze that can be discerned from DRYCLEAN, but to anyone who could see the whole picture, the subtle shifts in static show that they're almost paying more attention to the spectators than to the fight itself. Ripples. Otherwise, they're pretty much a model spectator, leaning forward slightly, tapping a foot in time with the rhythm of the fight. There's a communications ping on the Kana: No data. Nothing to really note; Remee's focused. Nobody really looks up anyways.
Stanley Padgett	Stanley takes no food. He also goes very quiet as people keep telling him not to get involved. But that's... HARD. He was involved, but too many other people are too. The hand on the shoulder is cold comfort that the Watch isn't sending more people in, as well.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia really has no stake in this at all. She's actually just here to see which of the fighters is more trash, or if either are actually trash at all. So, she continues to sip her lemonade and nibble her popcorn as she moves to join the other watchers. She offers a wave to Stanley and Kukuru. "This is more intense than I thought it would be. I guess I didn't realize just how serious they were about all of this. I'm used to a lot of yelling and then not much actually happening."
Remee Halcyon	It should be noted that Remee has no hesitation in going down there herself if she feels it's necessary, she's just wanting to prevent anyone else from doing so. Deal with it. She barely looks up when something pings in the mech. It's a computer, computer things are going to ping. If it starts smelling like meat then maybe she'd pay more attention to it, but otherwise whatever's gone wrong that caused that ping is a Petra problem.
Kukuru	It's already getting a little ugly, but Kukuru has to hold in her reactions. As far as Petra and John can see, she's just watching their fight with that ever pleasant smile and a light wave from the audience's hole. Anyone sitting closer to her, though, will see that her hands are a little shakier than usual. It's not a huge amount of shakiness, though, and not nearly enough to disturb her from snacking during the fight, but it's still a difference from her usual serene emptiness of mind. She does notice Hibiki's lack of appetite, but she refrains from actually saying anything to bring attention to her. Instead, Kukuru subtly stretches her arms out, then reaches around towards Hibiki to plant a hand gently on her shoulder and give it a light squeeze. Still shaky, but at least it's a gesture, to let Hibiki know that she's not the only one that's feeling off today. Sarracenia gets a slow nod afterwards, and Kukuru even manages a light chuckle after a moment. "They're kids. They need to work this out without adults like me or friends like all of you getting too... Worked up over it. It'll be better for them once they lay it all out and let out their frustrations onto each other. If they still hate each other after that..." She pauses, then shrugs lightly. Calmly, even, which is a fair step up from before. "Maybe it'll be the normal amount for kids."
Petra Soroka	Petra's not where John expects her to be. Over, and over, and over, and over, she's just out of reach of every punch, grapple, and chain. Everything this boy does registers as an attack to her, and her flighty instincts are in haywire, reacting preemptively to every tiny movement before they even happen. Petra unloads a spray of bullets, slamming the cylinder open and closed between each salvo fast enough to keep up tempo, ricocheting herself between the forest of chains. "Whatever you think this is about? You are wrong. I am not failing to forgive you. You are unforgivable." John loses track of Petra momentarily, lost in the gunsmoke and flashy attacks. A voice, directly in his ear, but still shouting. "You are not worth fighting for!" The cylinder clicks into place, and unloads.
John Doe	The voice comes from where he was sure she was... He swings but she wasn't there. Instead, waiting for him was an unloaded barrel, unloaded into him before he could even perceive it coming. The force of the shots is enough to tear off the armor without even getting a chance to resist. Not even the Man In the Iron Mask could stop it. Shattered before the onslaught. John stands there, before dropping to his knees and then flat on his face. He's pretty hurt.
Remee Halcyon	And Petra is... winning? Or at least not getting her tail handed to her on a silver platter, which Remee would have considered would be the most probable state of affairs (thus the various precautions, having her sniper rifle out, running mental simulations of the multiversal politics that'd result if she did kill a small child out here with only other elites to witness it, etc). ... Maybe she's being a bit mean to Stanley. She's just still very upset with him. Mentally, she adjusts her plan from 'shooting him in the leg' to 'warning shot in the dirt'. She glances over at Stanley and the others, and then back down at the fight - which... oh, it's... over. It's over. She doesn't reach for her radio to congratulate Petra yet. She will, soon. The fight's over, but... there's other things that might not be over and done with yet.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	There's a crack, then, in the melody. Something is thrown off. Genuine surprise. It comes crashing back down into nothing but white noise, though the anticipation has only grown. DRYCLEAN claps, then. It's not really audible to the people down in the ring, especially with the feedback from the gunfire still ringing in the air. But oh, would it be visible, if any combatants were to glance up. There's a couple more pings on the Kana, more urgent than the previous, though just as likely to be disregarded. There are, as before, more important things to worry about.
Petra Soroka	Petra is left standing, as the chains dissipate and John crumples. Her chest is heaving, exertion and rigid tension visible as far away as Remee watching from the mech. Her gun is still held, outstretched, pointing where John's head used to be. Not even the slightest amount of tension leaves her body. Her arm pivots down. The barrel readjusts, to the new position of his head.
Kukuru	The fight ends, but it doesn't look like things have finished just yet. Despite her initial reaction being to slowly start getting up, Kukuru forces herself to sit back down. "... Hmm. It looks like there's still some more stuff to work out." She still has her hand resting on Hibiki's shoulder lightly, although it's just a little tighter than before. It's not enough to actually stop her from getting up, as Kukuru seems intent on watching this through. Even when Petra aims that gun at John's head, she still doesn't get up. She just keeps watching the two with one hand, although she does release Hibiki to work on popping open a can of something with the label scratched off. It's definitely not alcoholic. It is absolutely alcoholic.
AME	A bit delayed, AME flinches. Not in time to John's falling, but just a little bit late. Her left hand is buried deep inside her wig, running its long fingers through bright blue strands. "Oh, wow. That was... fast." After a bit, she tilts her monitor slightly, and she pauses in her hairpulling, grip on her hair instead tightening.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	A moment. Two. They're ponderous. The computer flashes warnings Fuel lines interrupted The Kana begins to fall out of the air. It's not on a course for the two on the ground, but it sure is distracting!
Hibiki Tachibana	Kukuru offers her support in the form of a light grab, and Hibiki...despite how on-edge she seems right now, doesn't shake it off or anything as dramatic as that. It's hard to tell exactly how much it helps, but her squared-up shoulders do drop down somewhat. The expression on her face, not so much, other than slightly biting down on her lip as she listens to her talk about them working it out. There's a lot going on down there. Smoke, strikes, and a lot of movement, all leading towards-- The shot that lands clean, blasts away armor, and looks to floor John completely. For a moment, it feels like her heart stops, eyes wide. Petra managed that, fighting as seriously as she could...that's how she wanted her to fight, and moreover, she /did/ tell her to kick his ass. But seeing it happen like that is still something of a strange feeling. Her heartbeat kicks back in right about the moment that Petra re-aligns her aim, and Kukuru briefly lets go of her shoulder. Before she knows it, she's gripping onto the stone and using it to lean almost dangerously over, shouting down into the courtyard. "/Petra!/" That's all that comes out. But it's probably loud and desperate-sounding enough to remind an adrenaline-rushing girl that she - and a lot of other people - are watching right now. That, and the Kana falling. That's probably a big one.
Charlotte Newman	John crumples. The whirlwind of action that resulted in this undeniably swift outcome has left Charlotte in no small amount of surprise, leaning on the battlements and staring down into the courtyard. She still isn't sure who she expected to win in a duel like this; but she sure didn't expect it to be over so quickly. Not with how tough John has proven to be in the time she's known him. She doesn't think much of it, though. The girl lets out a sigh and allows herself to surrender some tension. A tension that immediately returns when Petra re-sights rather than holsters her weapon. Charlotte's outline distends into a glitchy mess for a frame, separating out into the mechanical Living Statue, Galatea. Neither she nor her Persona move, though. The shade's manifestation seemingly unintentional. She takes a moment to collect herself, her Other Self re-merging with her body while she takes a deep breath. A moment later, she lifts her hands to applaud. An applause that doesn't actually happen because the flying robot tank is no longer flying, "--Look out!"
Kukuru	The Kana, falling, though, is a threat that Kukuru actually has to react to. There's plenty of kids still down here, and it might not land on any of them, but what if it tips over after hitting the ground? Or if someone really is just underneath it? Clearly, the solution is to teleport abruptly, falling into one cloud and popping out of another just beneath the falling machine. Her hands go up to brace against it, and then she can only hope that her freakish strength (or some other act of someone faster than her) is enough to keep it from flattening anyone if she and the machine hit the ground.
Remee Halcyon	OH SHIT THE MECH REMEE IS IN IS FALLING She panics - to the point that she honestly forgets that she's immortal for a moment. It's still going to hurt a whole lot, though, so the panic is still pretty warranted! Luckily there's Kukuru. "Kukuru! Catch me!" Oh, wait, she's going to catch the mech itself. That'd probably work out better. emee just sort of stays where she is and braces, then.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia blinks in surprise as...the battle is already over? "Oh my. Is that it?" she wonders aloud. Her eyes widen though as Petra lines up a kill shot. "Hey! He is no longer a threat! If he ever actually was!" she exclaims. She hesitates a moment before leaping over the side of the rampart. She pulls out a leaf and in a puff of smoke has a raccoon's ears and tail. She glides her way down quickly, pulling her hammer as she goes. She isn't sure if she can make it down there in time though, so as she falls she pulls out a tanuki suit power up and throws it at Petra. It may hit, it may not. if it does, Petra may find herself suddenly in a big fluffy full body tanuki suit with just her face exposed. If it doesn't hit...well, maybe a stuffed animal will distract her long enough for Sarra to land with herself and her hammer between Petra and John.
Petra Soroka	Blood pounds in her ears. Her grip tightens. Fight as hard as she can, right? The fight isn't over. The trigger is squeezed, the passive voice feeling appropriate, from Petra's distant mental observation. Click. That's not right, it's supposed to bang. <J-IC-Scene> Remee Halcyon says, "Petra it's falling!" Oh, that's weird, that shouldn't be happening either. Petra looks up, dazed, as the Kana plummets down, still in too much of a fugue to dodge out of the way. Her eyes glance at Remee, panicking inside the falling mech, and she idly remembers that Remee's immortal, so she'll be fine. Suddenly, she's in a tanuki suit, and the mech isn't falling anymore, and everyone's shouting at her. "H-huh?" The fog slowly dissipates from her head, and she raises up a fuzzy hand to look at it. The cute little paw, with its cute little jellybeans, holding her revolver... is just way too funny. "Ha... ahahahahaha!" Petra doubles over, choking on her laughter.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	They adjust their jacket antennae, almost self-satisfied, as they lean back in their chair. "Now that's a good showin', folks. Hope everyone got something they wanted, ha ha." The thin red beam extending to the heavens instantly dissipating as the Kana sputters goes nearly unnoticed, not visible from the angle the spectators sat. They continue to watch the shitshow from on high.
AME	AME's vice grip on her hair loosens, just slightly, as does her posture. Less shock, closer to... attentiveness? Curiosity? Emotions are hard to discern when there's no face to read, unless that posture goes out of its way to be understood. She smooths out the kinks in her hair adjusts her antenna skyward and whispers- or, outputs at near-imperceptible volume, really- "What are you doing?"
Kukuru	"I've got you!" Kukuru shouts to Remee, and it's not a complete lie! With Remee being in the Kana, it just makes sense for her to catch the machine and keep it from turning anyone else into paste. It's just also going to really, REALLY hurt once the fall is over and it's time to actually arrest that movement. Perhaps learning a lesson from smarter wolves, however, Kukuru actually uses her POWERFUL LEGS to dig through the ground a fair bit rather than just taking the full shock of that landing head on, and she comes out of it with some horribly bruised legs, but at least nobody's dead! Not even John, when Sarracenia manages to interrupt Petra's battle haze with.. Laughter? That's laughter, alright. Breathing a heavy sigh of relief, it's almost enough to make Kukuru forget that her legs are in terrible, terrible pain. It's only for a moment, though, before she sets the Kana down safely beside her and holds it in place briefly to make sure it doesn't fall over. "... Are you okay now?" She doesn't specify anyone in particular, but it's fairly clear who she's addressing.
Remee Halcyon	Remee probably gets a bit bruised during the landing. A few moments later, she hops out of the Kana, gear bag (with rifle inside) in tow, trusting solid ground a bit more right now. "Petra!" Oh, wait, she's laughing. She'll wait for her to finish. Laughing is good.
Hibiki Tachibana	Thankfully, the devastating combo of Sarracenia and Kukuru stop what could have been potentially a way worse situation from getting...well, worse, and the brief and awful moment where she thought she'd have to directly intervene in one or another herself never comes. The Kana is brought to a stop, and Petra is-- Petra is now a tanuki. Any other time, a part of her would probably laugh too, but there's nothing but a sigh of relief and a lot of her own tension leaving her all at once. "...Geez..." Enough that she briefly actually just slumps against the battlements with her face down in the stone for like three whole seconds, before she takes in a deep breath and stands back up straight. And then she just hops the wall and jumps the whole way down into the courtyard herself, with only slightly sore knees for the trouble. She's going to wait on the sidelines for Petra to end her laughing fit too - though not without an uneasy, hard-to-read glance down at the fallen John, and then back up to both Charlotte and Stanley's spectator spots.
Sarracenia	Sarracenia wasn't quite expecting -that- reaction to being in a tanuki suit, but it does seem to drain the tension from the air. She relaxes just a bit, then laughs a bit herself before pulling out her smartphone. She makes a quick call and her airship moves in overhead with the rope ladder lowered. A few piranha plants climb down and if no one tries to stop them they grab John before the rope ladder is pulled up. His wounds will be tended to with magical mushrooms once onboard, but that can only go so far. Kukuru catches...a mech?! "What in the world happened to that thing?" she asks, and offers Kukuru some of those magical green mushrooms as well. "Are -you- alright?" she asks.
Petra Soroka	The laughing fit goes on for a while. At around the five second mark, when Petra slowly sinks to her knees, it becomes pretty clear that she's in shock. At the fifteen second mark, when it dissolves into hiccupping and coughing, even Remee can recognize something's wrong. The tanuki suit disappears, and Petra is left with her forehead pressed directly into the stonework, cold seeping into her body from every point of contact. She's still shaking, in that folded up position, but her fit has faded into silence. Almost silence. Hibiki and Remee, when they approach, hear quiet, choked sobs. Petra stays there, for a little while.
Kukuru	Sarracenia's concern gets a slow nod from Kukuru, then a pleasant smile. It's a bit forced, but hiding the pain is what all good parents do! "Mhm! Just a little sore, but I'll be okay. Good thinking, Sa-rra~" She totally devours the shit out of some of those mushrooms, though. Even though Kukuru can heal herself, a little extra help never hurts. Besides, she'll need to stay there for a while longer, at least to help get John back home.
Hibiki Tachibana	Hibiki was...afraid of that. But not surprised. It's a little too much to hope that something like this was as easy as laughing everything off. With John carted off - which she still has some seriously mixed feelings about, just letting it happen - she makes a few tentative steps towards Petra, on the ground. A glance is given to Remee for a moment, before she stops next to her and comes down onto a knee. "...Hey." She's not entirely sure Petra is in any state to even hear her right this second, but she says that quietly anyway before slowly reaching down to lightly grip at her shoulder. It feels...strange doing that, when Kukuru was the one doing it for her right before now. "...Petra." "C'mon. Let's...at least get you back in your mech. It's all over and done with." She doesn't want to add the 'for now', out loud. She really doesn't. And she also can't just stand there and let her do this out here in this old courtyard, right in the middle of everyone.
DRYCLEAN-SIGINT	DRYCLEAN shifts out of view from below, for a few moments, before their chair (now folded) is tossed down onto the wall below the tower, themselves quickly following. The landing is not graceful wince-worthy, but they dust themselves off and pick the chair right back up, moving over to the now mostly emptied spectator "stands". And there they indeed stand, next to AME, as everyone is slowly shuffled off to vehicles and the dust clears. "Focus break, pal. Dangerous to keep everyone ridin' the same mental track too long in a kerfuffle like that, ha ha." Exactly who the danger applied to or why it matters to them is conspicuously absent. Hands in pockets.
AME	AME doesn't question this. Not outwardly. DRYCLEAN's known for their non-sequiturs. So it's fine, really. Whatever it was that that meant will probably present itself later. Mysteries solve themselves if you wait for things to play out. That's how she'll think about this heading out.
Petra Soroka	Petra trembles at Hibiki's touch, a small quiver that propagates through her body as a violent shudder. Pent up air rushes out of her in a sigh, and she sags into Hibiki's hand, muscles unclenching. She drags her--nearly as immaculate as before the fight--sleeve across her face, then stands up. It's no surprise to Hibiki that Petra's eyes are red and puffy, or that her slight smile looks forced. It may not even be a surprise to her that there's a tinge of pride in her expression, beneath the shock. What is unsettling, and deeply out of place, is the rabid hunger stirring behind Petra's eyes, not directed towards John, or Hibiki, or any of the other audience members, but towards herself. The expression of a starving girl who spotted a trail of crumbs. Petra wraps her arms around herself, shying gently away from Hibiki's touch. "Y-yeah. It's over now. Do you... want a ride back?" She suddenly realizes something. "Wait! Wait!! Why did it fall! What happened to it?!" Petra rushes over and starts scrambling all around the mech, and with that little outburst, the tension in the courtyard drains away.